You may have heard the proclamations by company CEOs and other pundits that 'privacy is dead', but the truth is that privacy is a lawfully protected RIGHT in the United States. Here are the most important things you can do right now to put your digital life in order and preserve some semblance of privacy and sanity.
1. Protect your smart phone. The typical smart phone contains a wealth of private information that is vulnerable to loss, theft, and in some states such as California, legalized search and seizure without a warrant if you're ever arrested. It only takes a minute or less to add a 4-digit passcode and set the auto-lock rate to require the code after a minute or two of inactivity. Now that smart phones can reveal your geo-location, exercise caution when enabling this feature. Teens and young adults are particularly vulnerable if they don't realize the privacy risk.
2. Change all passwords. Your digital life probably involves 20, 30, or even more passwords that need periodic changing. Vow to change them every Data Privacy Day in January and then again on, say, Fourth of July to celebrate our freedom and lawful right to privacy. Be sure that all of your passwords are unique. If that's too overwhelming, use common passwords only on sites that store a minimum of your private data.
3. Strengthen your passwords. Many sites rate the strength of your password as you type it. Strong ones have at least eight characters consisting of numbers, letters (both lower and upper case), and special characters (i.e. $, #, % etc.). The trick is to make it strong and unique to you yet not easily guessed. Avoid personal info such as your phone number, names of kids or pets, birth date, or any 'pattern' of numbers. One librarian, for example, bases passwords on library call numbers from her favorite books.-- Agony %26 Ecstasy for a Citibank card site. The call number PS3537.T669A38 can be rearranged further in a way that only she would know. Use a strong password for any site that stores your financial or private data.
4. Manage your passwords. Experts say NOT to write down your passwords, but who could possibly remember dozens of long and strong passwords? What's an active surfer to do? One solution is to keep encrypted reminders offline as well as on your smart phone. In the above example, the librarian could simply write 'AE' next to Citibank contact info as a reminder that the password is a derivative of the call number for her favorite book Agony %26 Ecstasy. Some websites now let you setup and access these password hints at login. If you'd rather skip the fun and creativity, you can turn to sites that store and encrypt your passwords for you or to systems that use tokens, fobs, and other schemes instead of passwords.
5. Don't divulge details online. What's the name of your first pet, first date, best friend, mother's maiden name, high school? This very personal info does not need to be out there in cyberspace with its never-ending memory. Come up with creative answers you won't forget. Name of your first pet? Primero Peto. Your best friend? Lada Gaga. Your school? BoringHS.
6. Consider a protection service. One enterprising privacy service gets your attention with an email that lists your current and previous addresses, name, and age along with your birth month! For a fee, they'll find and remove your personal data from sites that sell it, or they'll coach you in opting out. You can check out how exposed your private information is online by typing your name and address into Google or by entering your name and email into Reputation.com.
7. Update privacy options. Yes, we should read a site's privacy policy, but who does? Luckily, there are new services, software, and settings to help ensure privacy. After tweaking the privacy settings of your browser, it's important that you check the privacy settings of your social networking sites. Ignore those settings at your own peril—your birthdate could be revealed if you don't act to protect your privacy since social media sites benefit from members being more social not more private. To address the growing concern over social media privacy, try a social media privacy service such as uProtect.it to keep your posts, updates, and pictures private and under your control. Be sure to do this for your child's social media site as well.
8. Check your credit report online. Chances are you'll already know if your credit privacy has been breached and your identity stolen, but it's a good idea to check your own credit report once a year. The three major credit bureaus—Equifax, Experian, and Transunion—offer various monitoring plans that charge a monthly fee to track and alert you of all changes in your report as they occur.
9. Install anti-spyware software. The term 'cookies' sounds so inviting, but make no mistake, cookies are a form of spyware that can invade your privacy every time you visit a website and even monitor your computer use as you work offline. Admittedly, most cookies consist of benign code that companies use to serve you better and improve your web experience on their sites. However, to avoid malicious spyware, set your browser to clear all cookies upon closing and use anti-spyware software to find and delete these small programs that accumulate on your hard drive and slow your system over time. Find popular solutions at Symantec.com and McAfee.com.
10. Don't throw your privacy away. Delete any personal information stored on your computer before you dispose of it by using a 'wipe' utility program that overwrites the hard drive. Tear up or shred credit card receipts, pre-approved credit offers, and other financial documents before throwing them away. Before you toss those old tax records in the trash after three years, check that your social security number is not printed on old medical and insurance statements (many companies used the SSN as an ID), old pay stubs, and other account records. If your bank and credit account numbers have remained the same, you'll need to shred those old statements as well.
There's more you can do, but this is a good start in a country where your right to privacy is protected by law.
Dr. Kathryn Alesandrini is an acclaimed author, consultant, and retired professor based in the Los Angeles area. Her upcoming book Braving the New eWorld explores personal power and privacy in the digital age. Her previous book Survive Information Overload won numerous awards including Top 10 Business Books by Soundview and a top book in Information Management by the American Library Association. Contact the author at www.DrKathrynA.com.
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